Search

Organising my paper folders is proving to be quite a rewarding task. I know I still have much to do, but I can already see the benefits of my new system. I think much of it boils down to the fact that ultimately I will have everything in one place and the advantages that this will bring.

It will be much easier to find things – I will only have one place to look for things, my hard drive. On top of this there is the added advantage of the Windows search function as well. No need to spend hours hunting through folders, wondering where that piece of paper was filed or if it was ever filed at all.

Less duplication of effort – Really a spin off from the fact that everything will be easier to find, I should be able to find out almost instantly whether I have already searched/found a piece of information.

Everything will be backed up – I will gain tremendous piece of mind knowing that all my remaining paper documents will have digital copies as a backup and in turn those digital backups will be backed up on a regular basis.

Liberating my research – It will be so liberating to be able to carry every single piece of my research around with me on my netbook, whether I am going on a research trip or just visiting relatives.

Making me review my research – The organising process is making me revisit most of my research, and highlighting areas that I need to follow up on, and things that have been missed. My to-do list is filling up quite nicely.

All that being said, it is not an easy process and is going to take some discipline to actually keep it going, but I can already see that it is worth the effort. Once I have sorted all my paper I will then need to focus on the digital side of things and get that more organised as well.